Much has been made of this past week’s first presidential
debate: President Obama’s perceived poor performance, Jim Lehrer’s mediocre
moderating and Mitt Romney’s surprisingly strong showing. But nothing has
stirred up discussion and protest quite like his attack on the funding for what
he considers to be unnecessary expenses, like public broadcasting. In just 20
seconds, Romney managed to stir up generations of Americans who are rallying
around a yellow, feathered symbol of happiness: Big Bird.

Watch the clip…

While Sesame Street
is likely not in danger, the notion of cutting funding for public programming like
PBS and NPR is a very real threat to those who value it. It’s been a goal of
conservatives for many years, though none can recall a politician who opted to
drag Big Bird into the debate.

The problem with cutting federal funding for PBS and similar
programs is that it will greatly endanger small localities’ abilities to
continue running show like PBS and Reading Rainbow in rural and poorer areas
across the U.S. While Romney argues that cutting PBS will help ease the nation’s
debt, the reality is that funding for PBS constitutes .00016 percent of the
federal budget.